According to Plan
by NothingGoesAsPlanned
Summary: Kendall Knight is known for planning every aspect of his life. But recently, his plans haven't exactly been working out. Especially once they start to involve the brown-eyed, overly sarcastic and rude cousin of his somewhat self-centered best friend.
1. Chapter One

"Hey buddy!" James exclaimed, clapping the slightly shorter blond in front of him on the shoulder. "How are you on this fine, beautiful, Wednesday morning?" He continued.

The blond rolled his eyes.

"In case you can't see, I'm working." He gestured to the carts he was in the middle of pushing. "Is there something you needed, James? Because if not, I should get back to work. I'd like to keep my job, thank you very much."

James scoffed.

"You hate this job, Kendall." Kendall glared at him, and the brunet rolled his eyes. "And why do you assume I need something? Maybe I just wanted to say hi to my _best friend forever_." James added defensively.

Kendall stopped pushing the carts again and shot James an amused look.

"Yep, definitely want something. What is it this time?" He asked, leaning on the handlebar of the car in front of him.

"My aunt called this morning." James finally said. Kendall sighed.

"Which one? You have many aunts." He said. James chewed his lip.

"My aunt Joanna." Kendall chuckled.

"Well, that's a new one. Never heard of her. But go on." He said, waving his hand. James continued gnawing at his lip.

"She called to tell me about my cousin, Logan. He's sixteen, and he's been acting out lately. So she thought sending him to live with me for a while would straighten him out." He added.

Kendall raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, because you're _totally_ a responsible adult." He drawled sarcastically. "What does this have to do with me? Other than me listening to you complaining about some brat?"

James finally chewed his lip.

"That's the thing," He began carefully. "He can't stay with me."

"And why not?" Kendall asked, going back to pushing the carts. James followed after him.

"Because I'm going to Lucy's for the summer, remember?" Lucy was James' girlfriend. They had been going out for a year, much to Kendall's surprise. James wasn't exactly known for long-term relationships.

"Oh, yeah." Kendall said absently, finally finishing with the carts. He peeled his gloves off and stuffed them into his pocket. "What does this have to do with me, again?" He asked.

James gave him a nervous grin.

"I was hoping he could stay with you." He said.

Kendall's eyebrow twitched. He whirled around on his heel, walking back to the store. He could hear James following behind him, but he ignored him. He pulled off of the apron and nametag he was forced to wear and shoved them in the back room, where the rest of the employees were expected to leave their things. He dropped his gloves on top and closed the door, turning towards James. He rolled his eyes at the other's expectant face.

"No." He said simply. He could practically hear James throw his hands into the air.

"Why not?" He demanded. Kendall signed out and walked out of the store, hands shoved in his pocket.

"Because James, I'm not sheltering some bratty teenager. Not my cousin, not my problem." He said, shrugging.

"But I'm supposed to go by Lucy's! I've been planning this for _months_!" James said, waving his arms around wildly.

"Cancel it and take care of your cousin." Kendall said, pulling his keys out of his pocket and disarming his car.

"Kendall, please." James begged. "I…I promised Lucy I would do this. We barely get to spend time together. She has her band and I have my mom's company. I really don't want to miss any time I could spend with her."

Kendall groaned and slid his hand down his face.

"Damn it James." He grumbled. The brunet got a hopeful look his face.

"And your decision is…?" He prodded. Kendall glared at him.

"I'll do it. You owe me for this." He said. James fist pumped.

"Thank you so much dude! I'll repay you, I swear." James said.

"You better." Kendall said darkly.

* * *

**One Week Later**

"So when's he coming?" Kendall asked, glancing at the empty street in front of him.

"Any moment now." James responded.

Kendall nodded and stared back at the road. After a few minutes a silver Toyota Camry came into view. He watched as it slowly came to a stop in front of his house. A woman stepped out of the car, and he instantly assumed it was Joanna. Her brown hair came up to her shoulders, and her eyes were covered by dark sunglasses. She was dressed in a grey business suit. She went to the back of the car, yanking the door open.

"Come on," She said impatiently. Kendall heard a loud groan.

"I'm not going." A boy responded, and Kendall figured it was Logan.

"Yes you are. Now get out. I'm going to be late for work." His mother said impatiently.

Another groan was heard from Logan, and finally his head popped into view. His hair was spiky and dark. He squinted at James before rolling his eyes and looking at Kendall. He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

James approached the car, and Kendall reluctantly followed after him.

"Hey, Logie." James said, grinning at the teenager.

"I told you to stop calling me that." Logan growled. "My name is Logan. _Logan_. Not Logie. Idiot."

Kendall's resisted the urge to strangle James. Apparently, he had forgotten to mention that Logan was rude and a brat, two things Kendall hated more than anything.

"Nice to see you too." James said, no longer smiling. He gestured to Kendall. "This is my buddy Kendall. You're going to be staying with him for the summer." He said.

Kendall did his best to give a friendly smile to the boy.

"How'd James get stuck with a loser like you?" He asked. Kendall instantly dropped the smile.

"Why did anyone have to get stuck with a brat like you?" He countered. Logan raised his eyebrow before snorting.

"You should be glad you're stuck with me." He said. Kendall was positive that if he was a girl, he would have flipped his hair.

"Whatever, brat." He said. Logan's face flushed with anger.

"I'm not a brat." He said. Kendall shrugged.

"Sure, okay."

"Well now that the introductions are done, I should get going. I would tell you to be good, Logan, but I would rather not waste my breath." Joanna said, hurrying to her car. "Nice meeting you, Kendall." She threw over her shoulder before getting in and speeding away.

"I should get going. Don't want to miss my flight." James said. Kendall frowned.

"Oh, yeah." He said. "See you." They exchanged a quick handshake and one-armed hug before James turned to Logan with a serious expression.

"I expect you to behave. Don't give Kendall a hard time, alright?" He said firmly. Logan rolled his eyes.

"Keep doing that and they'll get stuck like that." Kendall muttered. Logan glared at him before turning to James.

"Alright, whatever. It's not like I'd waste my time on him anyway." He said, adjusting the backpack on his shoulder and grabbing the handle of the suitcase. He walked away without another glance at either of the men he'd been standing by.

James sighed heavily.

"He's a handful. Good luck; you'll need it." James said, patting his shoulder. Kendall glared at him.

"Why couldn't you send one of your nice, non-bratty cousins to stay with me?" He asked.

James only laughed.

* * *

"Alright, I need your phone and any other electronics you have with you." Kendall said once he was inside the house.

"What?" Logan squawked. Kendall almost wished he had a camera; the brunet's face was priceless.

"Look, kid. You're going to need to learn to respect authority. From what James told me, that isn't exactly a strong point of yours. So until you learn how to give people respect, I'm going to take away your electronics." He said.

Logan narrowed his eyes.

"You mean you're going to make my life miserable." He said. Kendall shrugged.

"Whatever you want to call it. Now hand them over."

Logan handed over his phone, and went into his bag for his iPod.

"Happy now?" He asked dryly.

Kendall smirked.

"I'll be happy when you're out of my house."

"Trust me, the feeling's mutual." Logan said, spinning on his heel and walking into the living room. Kendall rubbed his temple and followed after the irritated teen.

_You owe me big time, James._


	2. Chapter Two

Logan raised his eyebrows as he stared at the couch.

"What the fuck is this?" He demanded. Kendall shook his finger at him.

"Language, brat. And this is where you're going to be sleeping." Kendall said, adding a sheet on top of the pillow. Logan's eyes narrowed.

"My name is Logan, damn it. Don't you have a guest room or something?" He asked.

"I'll stop calling you brat when you stop acting like one. And no, I don't have a guest room. I never really get any guests. If I do, I usually give up my room and crash down here-"

"So I'll take your room?"

"Oh hell no. That's only for the guests I like. You get the couch." Kendall said with a smirk. Logan opened his mouth to protest, but Kendall quickly cut him off. "My house, my rules."

Logan rolled his eyes and flopped down on the couch. He got a disgusted look on his face and sat up.

"Your couch sucks." He said. Kendall shook his head in wonder.

"How did you get so spoiled? News flash: not everyone is going to drop everything for you." He said.

Logan scoffed.

"Maybe not. But they should." He gave Kendall a pointed look.

The twenty-one year old raised his eyebrows.

"Or what?" He asked, laughing. This kid was too much.

Logan shrugged, adjusting his position on the couch.

"Or maybe, I'll just tell my mom I'm not being treated well." He said.

Kendall narrowed his eyes and stopped laughing.

"You wouldn't dare, brat. Besides, from what I saw earlier, your mom seems pretty done with your bullshit. It's no surprise she dumped you off here." He said.

Alright, that may have been too much. Kendall opened his mouth to apologize, but Logan cut him off.

"Fuck you, asshole. I can't believe I'm stuck here with you for the summer. I could be at home, with my friends, doing something. Not sitting on some hard-ass couch talking to you."

Kendall glared at him.

"What makes you think _I_ want you here? The only reason you're sitting on "some hard-ass couch" is because I'm doing this as a favor for James. If I had said no, your ass would be out on the streets." He snapped.

Logan fell quiet at that, opting to just glare at Kendall.

"If you weren't so ungrateful, I think I would have liked you." Kendall added, shaking his head.

"I hate you." Logan seethed. "I don't care if you're James' friend or whatever, but I hate you. If you think I'm ever going to make this easy for you, you're wrong."

"Hey, I'm the one sheltering you. And on top of that, I'm an adult. You, however, are just a kid. So you better start treating me with some respect. I have the power to make this whole summer your own personal hell."

Logan laughed bitterly.

"You already have."

* * *

To say Logan was a handful would be the understatement of the century. Kendall doubted he had enough Advil to last him through the summer. With the headaches he was getting in the few hours Kendall had known Logan, he knew he would definitely have to stock up.

Currently he was in the kitchen making grilled cheese sandwiches. James and Joanna hadn't said anything about food allergies, so Kendall figured anything was okay. He didn't know was Logan liked to eat, and he briefly considered asking. But when he remembered how cantankerous the boy was, he quickly stomped out the idea.

Speaking of Logan, the boy was walking into the kitchen. He peeped over Kendall's shoulder at the pan.

"Grilled cheese?" He asked. Huh. He actually was being kind of…_pleasant_. His voice didn't sound angry at all.

"Yep. I made some for you."

"Why would I want to eat anything _you_ made?" And there went the pleasantness. Kendall scowled and flipped over the sandwich angrily.

"Well then I guess you can starve."

"I know how to cook, you know." Well, that was a surprise. Kendall didn't let his shock show, though. He simply shrugged.

"Well, that's settled. You cook for you and I cook for me."

"Fine." Logan said icily.

"Fine." Kendall snapped back.

Logan disappeared to who knows where, and Kendall went back to making his grilled cheese. When he was finished, he turned the burner off and slid the sandwiches onto a plate. He set aside one for Logan, in case he changed his mind.

Kendall felt kind of silly for having an argument with a teenager, but he couldn't help it. Logan barely knew him, and he managed to get under his skin. Just the thought of the brunet made Kendall's headache come back full-force and his anger to flare.

He wondered what made the boy the way he was. Surely, he couldn't have been this angry and rude his whole life. Something must have happened to him. And whatever it was, it must have been bad. He sighed and rubbed his temple.

James and Joanna expected him to somehow straighten Logan out. At the end of the summer, Logan was supposed to act like a whole new person. Preferably one that was kind and pleasant. But with the way all of his conversations with Logan were going, he severely doubted he could change Logan.

The sound of a phone vibrating brought him out of his thoughts. He glanced at the counter, where Logan's phone and iPod sat. He chewed his lip. He could ignore it and eat his sandwich, or he could read the text and invade Logan's privacy, which would definitely cause the younger boy to hate him even more if he were to get caught.

In the end, Kendall's curiosity won. He strode over to the counter, peering into the living room to see Logan preoccupied with a book he had probably brought with him. He leaned back and scooped the phone up, sliding it open.

**1 New Message**

Kendall tapped the screen, opening the message.

_From: Jason_

**_Logan, I know you don't want anything to do with me. But I still love you. Do you think we could try again?_**

Kendall stared at the screen in surprise. Logan was…gay? Not that there was anything wrong with that. It was just a surprise. He would have to ask him about it later…_much later_.

He heard Logan get off the couch, and Kendall hastily slammed the phone onto the counter. Logan gave him a suspicious look, but said nothing. He opened the fridge, looking around before shaking his head.

"You really don't get a lot of guests." He said. Kendall shrugged.

"I told you I didn't."

"We need to go shopping."

"Why?" Kendall asked, almost whining. He hated shopping of any kind. James used to drag him from store to store for hours on end. After that, he didn't go shopping unless he absolutely needed to.

"I'm not living on fish sticks and apples for the whole summer." Logan snapped. "So you have to drive me to the grocery store."

"What's the matter, brat? Don't know how to drive?" Kendall sneered.

"Shut the hell up." Logan retorted, his face red.

Kendall only smirked and jiggled his car keys on the air.


	3. Chapter Three

Three days.

It had been a mere three days since James had begged Kendall to let his sixteen year old cousin stay with him while he went to California to visit his girlfriend. Only three days, and Kendall was already thinking of ways to get rid of the teen. Logan was impossible to deal with. He was rude and inconsiderate. He always rolled his eyes and glared at him. Oh, and he also hated him.

Kendall snuck a glance at the teenager currently occupying his couch. Logan's knees were tucked into his chest, his head resting on top and his arms wrapped around his legs. The television remote sat on the arm of the couch, and his eyes were glued to the screen in front of him. He was watching an old episode of _MythBusters_.

He sighed to himself and turned away from the teen. While Logan hadn't said a word to him the entire day, he still acted as if Kendall's presence was the reason for his misery. Kendall kept thinking of the text he had seen on Logan's first day here.

Who was this Jason guy? What did he do to cause Logan to not want to associate with him? Was he the one that made Logan the way he was? Kendall didn't have the answer to any of his questions, and that very thought irritated him. He always liked to have the answers. It made his life simple.

But, as he was quickly figuring out, Logan was hell bent on doing the opposite.

He could just ask Logan, but he already knew that wouldn't end well. Logan wouldn't probably hit him or something. Not that he ever had, but Kendall didn't really know what to expect from the younger boy anymore.

He leaned away from the counter and sat down next to Logan. He only had one couch, so there was nowhere else to sit. Kendall figured he should try to have a civil conversation with Logan. Maybe he would open up more. While Logan was pretty rude, Kendall hadn't been the nicest to him either.

Maybe if he was nicer, he could actually change Logan.

* * *

"Babe, you're frowning again." Lucy said, smoothing her thumb over the creases on James' forehead. The twenty one year old looked up with a start.

"Huh?" He asked. Lucy shook her head.

"Stop worrying. I bet they're fine." She said, heading into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. She offered one to James, but he declined.

"I don't know Lucy. I mean, Logan isn't the same person he used to be. He's changed so much." James said, furrowing his eyebrows again.

Lucy sighed.

"He became a brat. That's how teenagers are." She said.

She was getting tired of talking about Logan all the time. For the past six months, it had been Logan this and Logan that. In her opinion, Logan was causing more trouble than needed. James' whole family worried about what they would do about the unruly teenager.

"No, that's not it." James disagreed.

Lucy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This Logan talk was getting on the last of her nerves. She just wanted to spend some time with her boyfriend. After the band had taken off and James began working at his mother's cosmetic company, they had barely gotten any time to spend together. When they talked over the phone, Logan had been the subject of most of their conversations. And now that they were together, he still was. She just wished that James would stop worrying on focused on spending time together.

"I was like that when I was sixteen too. He's just going through a phase. He'll get over it. Give him a few months and he'll go back to normal." She said.

James shook his head.

"I'll be back. I have to make a call."

"James! Don't you think you're worrying too much?" She said, grabbing onto his arm. James looked at her.

"Aunt Joanna said that she saw Logan doing something he shouldn't have. She didn't tell me what. What if that something has to do with why he's like this? If I find out what it was, I can help him. I know how to handle him…mostly. Kendall doesn't. If I just leave him there, he's not going to change and get over whatever this is. I need to call Logan and talk to him."

Lucy frowned.

"Can't you at least wait until later? The whole reason you came is to spend time with me, and we aren't exactly doing that."

James' face softened.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

Lucy smiled and kissed his cheek.

* * *

Logan looked over at Kendall. The older boy looked shocked, but quickly regained his composure.

"What?" He asked. Logan scoffed.

"I know you're watching me." He said bluntly. Kendall's cheeks slightly reddened.

"Am not." He muttered.

Logan looked over to where his phone sat on the counter.

"Hey, can I use my phone real quick?" He asked.

Kendall arched an eyebrow.

"The whole reason I took away the phone is so that you couldn't use it. Well, until you started showing me some respect. You haven't made any progress." He said.

Logan bit his tongue and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Look, I just want to call my mom." He said, gritting his teeth.

Kendall's expression went back to normal. He shrugged.

"Alright. But as soon as you're done put it back on the counter."

Logan nodded and got off of the couch. He headed towards the kitchen, grabbing his phone off of the counter. Then he slipped his shoes on and went outside, closing the front door behind him quietly. He sat down on the porch and looked in his messages.

He scrolled down, seeing that there were other messages from the same number. He looked at them, swallowing roughly. His phone vibrated in his palm, causing him to jump slightly.

**_Incoming Call: Jason_**

"Shit." Logan muttered. He pressed accept and held his phone to his ear.

"Logan? Why haven't you been answering me?"

_He's angry. Fan-fucking-tastic._

"Sorry." Logan apologized. "My phone died. I didn't hear it going off."

"You're lying. I can tell when you're lying." Jason said.

Logan clenched his hand around the phone.

"What do you want, Jason? I told you I was done. I...I don't want anything to do with you." He said, his voice cracking slightly. He heard the door open, and mentally began cursing when he saw Kendall behind him.

"Logan, baby, I still love you. And I know you don't trust me, but I swear, I've changed. I'm not going to hurt you."

Logan squeezed his eyes shut.

"I can't do this right now." He said before hanging up. Almost instantly, his phone began to vibrate again. He quickly turned it off and turned to Kendall.

"Who was that?" The older boy asked. Logan scowled.

"None of your business."

"You said you wanted to call your mom. And unless your mom changed her name to Jason, I'm going to assume that wasn't her."

"So I lied about who I was calling. Big deal."

"Who is he?"

Logan's scowl deepened.

"Why the hell do you care? He's a person I talk to."

"You don't seem to like him very much." Kendall observed. He sat next to Logan, and the younger instantly stood up.

"I'm going inside." He announced. Kendall grabbed his leg, halting his movement. "What?" He growled, irritated.

"Phone on the counter." Kendall reminded him, removing his hand.

Logan walked away.

"Whatever." He mumbled. Once inside, he set his phone down on the counter.

Logan slumped forward, holding his head in his hands. He couldn't let Kendall find out about Jason. His mother already did…and now he was stuck in a stranger's house. If Kendall found out, Logan worried he would get kicked out.

Logan sighed heavily.

_If only I had said no…_


	4. Chapter Four

Logan leaned heavily on the bathroom counter, water still dripping down his face. He grabbed the small towel next to him and patted his face dry. He sighed quietly, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

The whole reason Logan had been sent to stay with James was because his mother had caught him making out with Jason in the living room. Logan hadn't anticipated that she would be home that day. Mrs. Mitchell often worked so late that she was too tired to drive the two hour drive back home, and usually stayed at a motel for a few hours, coming home to freshen up before repeating the whole process again.

When Mrs. Mitchell had caught them, Logan remembered her screaming. He and Jason had quickly separated, and Jason desperately tried to explain the situation. Mrs. Mitchell had threatened to call the cops if he didn't leave. Once the other boy was gone, she tore in Logan. She called him a disgrace and told him that he was disgusting. The only thing Logan could think was that he was grateful his dad wasn't in the picture. He could only imagine how much worse the situation would have gotten.

Mrs. Mitchell had then called James, fabricating a story about how Logan had been excessively rude to her as of lately. From what her sister Brooke had told her, James was a responsible adult now. She couldn't deal with Logan, but she hoped that James would be able to. When Logan heard of this, he was extremely angry. He actually began to change subconsciously into the rude, obnoxious teenager she had described to James.

Along with his mother being completely against him being gay, Jason had changed after the incident. He began to distance himself from Logan until it hardly felt like they were dating anymore. Logan decided to corner him at school, hoping to talk to him. But he had caught the other boy flirting with another boy in their class. Heartbroken, Logan had angrily ended their relationship.

He blamed his mother for his current situation. If she had been a little bit more accepting, he wouldn't be in a stranger's house. He wouldn't be unhappy and he would still be with Jason (he was kind of glad she got mad about Jason, though. In a way, she saved him from staying with an unfaithful partner).

He blamed himself as well. If he had said no when Jason asked him out, he wouldn't be here. His mother would still love him, and he could go back to his normal, happy self.

_Only I wouldn't be happy_, his brain told him. _I'd be struggling to come to terms with who I was. Even though Jason was a total jackass, he helped me realize who I was._

"Are you done yet? I need to pee." Kendall called through the door, knocking on it. Logan jumped, shaking his head at himself.

"You can wait a bit longer." He responded.

The doorknob jiggled, and then the door swung open. Logan raised his eyebrows in shock.

"What the fuck man? I could have been naked!" He snapped. Kendall shrugged.

"I need to pee. And you're obviously not naked, so it's all good."

Logan glared at him.

"Asshole. How'd you even get in?"

"Oh, if you put a penny in the lock and turn it you can unlock the door." Kendall said nonchalantly, making his way to the toilet. He raised an eyebrow at the still slightly stunned brunet. "Are you going to leave or…?"

Logan flushed and quickly left the room.

* * *

Kendall glared at the boy on the couch.

"Are you going to answer the door?" He snapped, mustard dripping down his fingers. He had been trying to make a sandwich, and the mustard bottle had busted.

"It's your house. You answer it." Logan retorted, looking back at the television screen. Kendall groaned and made his way to the kitchen sink, quickly washing his hands and drying them on his jeans.

"You're so impatient, Carlos." He said, rolling his eyes as the opened the door.

"Eh, so I've been told." Carlos Garcia was one of Kendall's best friends. He, Kendall, and James had been friends since they were toddlers.

"Come in, I guess. Beware the demon on the couch." Kendall said, loud enough for Logan to hear.

"I heard that, jackass!" Logan responded. Kendall snickered, and Carlos raised his eyebrows.

"Who's that?" He asked, toeing off his sneakers. He followed the blond into the kitchen.

"James' cousin." Kendall said distractedly, wiping mustard off of the counter.

"Which one?" Carlos asked curiously, eyes landing on the brunet occupying the couch. Logan suddenly groaned and got up, approaching the two older boys.

"Logan Mitchell, sixteen, not in the mood to talk. Now that the introduction's done, I'm going out." He said quickly, turning on his heel.

"No you're not. You're still grounded." Kendall told him, eyes slightly narrowed.

"Oh, so that's what you're calling it? I would have said that my life was still miserable, but I guess that works too." Logan responded dryly, turning slightly.

Carlos gave Kendall an amused look.

"What are you, his dad now?" He asked. Kendall rolled his eyes, but Logan stiffened.

"I'm going out." He said again, slamming the front door hard behind him.

"What's his problem?" Carlos muttered, looking at the spot Logan had just vacated.

"I don't know. He's been like this since I met him." Kendall said absently, rinsing the kitchen towel in the sink.

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing, really. I may have been kind of rude to him too. But only because I didn't know how to deal with him."

"Do you know how to now?" Carlos asked. Kendall wrung the towel out and placed it next to the sink.

"Well, I'm trying to be nicer to him. That's a start, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. I don't really know how to deal with this whole teenager thing. Only child, you know?" Carlos said, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

"Yeah, I know." Kendall shook his head. "I don't know what I'm going to. When he goes back home, everyone is suspecting him to be some changed teenager. Katie was never like this. She was independent. But not difficult."

"He's not Katie." Carlos began, and Kendall shot him a look that screamed _you think I don't know that?_ The raven-haired boy cleared his throat. "But, I think you can handle him."

Kendall frowned slightly.

"Maybe." He began to grin at Carlos. "So, what brings you here?" He asked.

Carlos shrugged.

"Bored, I guess. And James is with Lucy, I'm assuming. So that leaves you." He replied. Kendall rolled his eyes playfully.

"Well gee, thanks. I had no idea I was your second choice." He said.

Carlos chuckled and shook his head.

"That's not what I meant." He said. His eyes landed on the front door. "Should we go after Logan?"

"He won't do anything." Kendall said. "He may be a handful, but he's not stupid."

Carlos shrugged slightly.

"Alright, if you say so."


	5. Chapter Five

"I really think we should go look for him." Carlos said nervously, his eyes darting to the window. The sky was beginning to get dark, and there was still no sign of Logan.

Kendall chewed his lip and paused the video game they were playing.

"Yeah." He agreed, getting off of the couch and pulling his jacket on. He frowned. "I hope he didn't get in trouble."

"Hopefully not," Carlos said, furrowing his eyebrows. He pulled his sneakers on and followed Kendall out of the house. "Should we split up?"

"Yeah, we'll cover more ground."

The two men split up, Carlos turning left and Kendall turning right. The blond chewed his lip, his mind racing. He really hoped nothing bad had happened to Logan. He didn't know what he would do, or better yet, how he would explain it to Logan's family.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes scanning the streets. He checked in the corner grocery store and the park, but Logan wasn't in any of those places. After a few minutes of aimless searching, Kendall would feel himself getting frustrated. He whirled around, his eyes darting from one spot to another.

Meanwhile, Carlos stopped abruptly when he spotted Logan sitting on the curb. The teenager had his head in his hands, and from where he stood he could see that the brunet was trembling. He hesitantly approached the boy, not sure how he should start a conversation.

"Uh, hey Logan." He settled for saying. Logan looked up at him before turning away, jaw set.

"What do you want?" He asked in his usual cold way. Carlos bit his tongue to prevent himself from lashing out at the boy.

"We got worried, you know." He said. He hesitantly sat next to the teenager. When he made no move to get up or start cursing him out, Carlos allowed himself to relax. "I think Kendall's still-"

"I don't care."

Carlos narrowed his eyes.

"What do you have against him? He's taking care of you. He doesn't have to, you know."

"You think I don't know that?" Logan snapped, hand clenched into a fist. He turned away. "I told him I hated him."

Carlos frowned.

"For some reason I'm not surprised-"

"I didn't mean it." Logan placed his hands on his knees, squeezing them. "I just said it because I was upset." He paused. "I say a lot of things I don't mean when I'm upset."

Carlos chewed his lip.

_Is he…opening up to me?_

"So you don't hate Kendall?" It wasn't mean to be a question. Logan shook his head slowly.

"No. He's okay, I guess. I'm just frustrated." He turned to look at Carlos, his expression hurt. "I'm not supposed to be here."

Carlos blinked rapidly, not quite used to seeing such an emotion on the teen's face. As far as he knew, Logan only had two emotions: cold and angry.

"Why?" He asked, trying to coax the answer out of the other boy.

"My mom walked in on me and my boyfriend-I mean, _ex -_boyfriend. She got really upset. I was supposed to stay with James because she thinks James is some great guy. She thought she could help me." Logan's hands tightened into fists. "I don't need help." He whispered angrily, mostly to himself.

Carlos looked at the younger boy in shock.

"So that's why you're like that. All cold and stuff."

Logan chewed his lip.

"I don't want to be. But my mom made up this story about how I was acting out. She was ashamed to tell my aunt, her _sister_, that I was gay. So she made some shit up. I have to fit the role." He said bitterly.

"Oh." Carlos said, and it was only until the word left his mouth he realized how crappy it sounded. "That's fucked up."

"You think?" Logan asked with a sarcastic chuckle. "I can't stop acting like this. Kendall will realize that there's nothing wrong with me. He'll send me back." The younger boy crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't want to go back there. My mom's a fucking bitch."

Carlos flinched slightly at Logan's choice of words.

"Maybe you should tell him. The truth. Maybe he'll just keep you until the end of summer and act like he doesn't know. You could act like yourself again. You mom would never know." Carlos said gently.

"I can't." Logan said stubbornly. "He'll act just like her. He'll kick me out too."

Carlos shook his head and hesitantly placed his hand on Logan's shoulder. When the brown-eyed boy made no move to shake him off, he relaxed.

"Kendall's pretty understanding. I don't think he'll mind."

Logan sighed and stood up.

"I have a lot of apologizing to do."

Carlos grinned.

* * *

"Jesus Christ Logan." Kendall said, yanking the teenager to him. "You scared the shit out of me. I thought something happened to you. Do you know how badly James will murder me if anything happened to you?" He went on, removing his arms.

"I'm fine." Logan said, forcing himself to sound pleasant. Kendall's eyebrow twitched slightly, and Logan assumed it was from surprise.

"Oh, that's good." Kendall said, running his hand through his hair. "I should get you back." He turned to Carlos, holding his hand out. "Thanks for helping me look for him, man."

"No problem." Carlos said, and the two exchanged handshakes. "I should probably be heading home. I'll catch you later, okay?" He began to walk away, but not before sending a meaningful glance towards Logan.

"I didn't mean to make your worry." Logan said. "I didn't realize how long I was gone."

Kendall rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's okay. Why did you leave like that, though?" He asked. Logan stiffened. He looked away, beginning to walk in the direction of Kendall's house.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said. Kendall chewed his lip.

"Oh, alright."

The two walked back in silence. Once they arrived at Kendall's house, Logan patiently waited for the blond to unlock the door. Logan kicked his shoes off in the doorway and nudged them under the small table in the hallway. Kendall followed his example.

Logan rubbed his arm.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly. Kendall gave him a small smile.

"I told you, it's ok-"

"I wasn't talking about that." Logan quickly interrupted, eyes darting away to land on the wall. "I meant that I was sorry about the way I've treated you. You, um, didn't deserve it."

Kendall looked at the teenager in surprise.

"Oh, uh, it's fine." He responded, shaking his head. "But what brought this on? I'm pretty sure you hated me a few hours ago."

"I never hated you." Logan corrected. "I say things I don't mean in the heat of the moment."

"Oh, that's nice to know." Kendall said, grinning. "So does this mean you'll be nicer now?"

"Yeah." Logan said, smiling at Kendall for the first time.

Kendall felt his heart stop in his chest. He swallowed roughly, looking away quickly.

"Great. I'm glad that we'll be getting along better now." He turned and went up the stairs hastily. "Uh, I'm going to bed. Goodnight!"

"Wait, it's only seven!" Logan called, but Kendall had already closed the door to his room. The teenager sighed loudly, flopping down on to the couch.

_Tomorrow...I'll tell him tomorrow._


	6. Chapter Six

Kendall was moving around in the kitchen when Logan woke up. The teenager sighed, sitting up. He swung his legs over the side of the couch and walked to the kitchen, twiddling his thumbs.

"Hey, you're up!" The blond exclaimed. Logan managed a tiny smile.

"Heh, yeah. Look, about last night. I really am sorry."

Kendall shrugged, leaning on the counter.

"I said it was okay, didn't I?"

Logan flushed.

"Yeah. But still, I need to apologize." He paused. "And I think I should explain myself."

Kendall looked mildly shocked.

"Oh. About what?" He asked, although he had a pretty good idea.

"About the way I've been treating you." Logan paused again, taking a deep breath. "I don't normally act like that."

"Yeah, I figured." Kendall muttered.

"But my mom, she made up this stupid story. And I just got really pissed off about it. I figured that if she was going to say that crap, I might as well fit the part."

Kendall gave the brunet a curious look.

"What did she say?" He asked.

"Well, my mom doesn't really come home a lot because she has to commute to work. So one day I invited my boyfriend over." He stopped, waiting to see Kendall's reaction. But the blond just looked at him evenly.

"Then what happened?" He coaxed.

"She caught us making out. She started flipping out, and he got kicked out. And then…she called Aunt Brooke. She told her that I started acted out and that she didn't know what to do. She asked if I could go stay with James. And then this happened." He gestured towards the house.

Kendall chewed his lip.

"And your boyfriend? Are you guys still together?"

Logan's face fell completely.

"No." He began quietly. "He got really standoffish after my mom caught us. I tried to talk to him, but he was flirting with some other guy. I broke up with him."

"But he still wants you." Kendall said, standing up.

Logan looked at him sharply.

"How did you know that?" He asked.

"Don't get mad." Kendall warned.

"I won't."

Kendall shifted uncomfortably.

"He texted you after you gave your phone to me. Which you can totally have back. And I got really curious. So I read it. The dude sounded kind of desperate." He added the last part as a way to somehow squash Logan's anger.

The brunet sighed.

"He called me the other day. You knew that already, though." He said with a little smirk.

"Yeah." Kendall said, a bit guiltily.

"What about you? Have any relationships?" Logan asked. "I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

Both boys looked shocked at the statement. Kendall vaguely wondered how they had gone from Logan explaining to talking about his past relationships.

"Oh."

"Um…so relationships?" Logan asked, his face turning red. Kendall coughed.

"Well there was this girl in high school. Her name was Jo. Blonde hair, brown eyes, super sweet. Everyone thought we kind of looked like brother and sister. I think I have a picture of her."

Kendall searched around on the counter before finding his wallet. His made a little triumphant noise and showed the picture to the teenager.

"You guys do kind of look like siblings." He said with a smirk. A strange feeling started in his stomach. Why did Kendall have a picture of his ex-girlfriend in his wallet? Assuming that they _were_ exes.

_Why do I even care,_ Logan thought to himself. The blond's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"I don't think we do." Kendall said with a pout. He tucked the picture away. "I guess it doesn't matter though. We haven't talked for a for few years now."

"You sound old when you say that." Logan muttered. "Why don't you guys talk anymore?" He vaguely thought the question might be a bit too invasive, but he had already said it.

"Oh, uh," Kendall paused, furrowing his eyebrows. "We kind of drifted apart after we broke up." He said with a shrug.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Logan said, feeling bad. Kendall shrugged again.

"Eh, it's alright. I mean I kind of miss her sometimes, but it's fine." A small smile formed on his face.

An unexplainable jealously filled Logan. He grumbled under his breath, reaching across the counter to reclaim his iPod and phone.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Kendall said, snapping his fingers. "About a month before you came here, James and I went to some party he got invited to. We got really drunk and ended up making out."

Logan's face screwed up.

"Ew. I totally did _not_ need that mental image."

"Hey, no one told you to imagine us making out." Kendall said, poking the brunet's shoulder.

Logan blushed.

"Yeah, yeah." He said, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm hungry."

"So go make something." Kendall said with a smirk. Logan narrowed his eyes.

"This is about the whole me being able to cook thing, isn't it?"

Kendall's smirk widened the slightest bit.

"Maybe." He said in a sing-song voice.

Logan huffed and stalked over to the fridge. He sighed when he looked inside.

"There's only a jug of expired milk and some cheese."

Kendall shrugged.

"We need to go grocery shopping."

Kendall shrugged again.

"Ah! Stop shrugging!"

The twenty-one year old laughed loudly and scooped up his car keys.

"Okay, okay."

The ride to the store was mostly quiet, save for the hum of the radio in the background. Kendall and Logan went into the store, Logan grabbing a flyer.

"Produce first?" Logan asked. Kendall nodded.

The two headed to said section, Logan waiting by the cart while Kendall searched for the vegetables and fruit they needed.

"Ooh, can we get strawberries?" Logan asked hopefully. Kendall looked at the price, shaking his head.

"It's too expensive."

Logan pouted, causing Kendall to sigh and grab one container of the fruit.

"Yay!" Logan exclaimed, and Kendall chuckled at the pleased expression on his face.

They were just about to move to the deli section when Kendall bumped into a petite brunette.

"Oh, sorry." He said. The woman turned around, her eyes bright.

"Kendall?" She asked. Kendall's eyebrows shot beneath his bangs.

"Camille?"

The two then began to smile at each other. Logan raised his eyebrows, leaning on the handlebar of the shopping cart.

"I haven't seen you since that graduation party." Kendall said, shaking his head. The woman, Camille, smirked.

"Yeah. Where the hell have you been, Blondie?" She said, playfully punching him on the shoulder.

Her eyes slid over to the aloof teenager.

"Who's this?" She asked, her lips still curled into that smirk.

Kendall looked over at the teen with a grin.

"That's Logan."

Camille raised her eyebrows.

"I'm James' cousin." Logan supplied, assuming that the brunette knew who he was talking about.

Her eyebrows fell into their normal position.

"Oh." She said, her tone rapidly dropping. She forced a grin onto her face. "Ask your cousin what he's up to when you get a chance, okay?" She added.

Logan nodded slowly. Camille turned to Kendall.

"We should hang out soon."

"Yeah, totally. How about Thursday? I don't think I have work."

Camille grinned.

"That sounds awesome. See you then. Bye, Logan."

She waved to them and left.

"Who's she?" Logan asked, trying to keep the jealously out of his voice. He had no idea why he was getting so worked up about it.

"Oh, Camille? We went to school together since we were little. I haven't talked to her in a while either. She's really cool."

"Saying she's cool doesn't make me like her." Logan grumbled. Kendall looked at him.

"Huh?"

The brunet forced a sweet smile onto his face.

"Let's go get the bread now." He said.

_I need to stop acting like this_, he grumbled to himself. _It's embarrassing_.

* * *

"You won't believe who I ran into!" Camille said, holding her phone to her ear as she picked up a bag of sugar.

"Who?" Jo asked on the other line. Camille smirked.

"Kendall Knight. In all of his hunky glory."

She laughed as she heard Jo's breath catch on the other side of the line.

"Kendall?" She asked, sounding breathless. "How is he?"

"He's doing fine. He has some boy with him. He got _extremely_ jealous."

"How did you know?"

"It was so obvious." The brunette said with a smirk. "He had that look in his eyes."

"Who was he?"

Camille sighed.

"James' cousin."

"What? James, like James Diamond? James like-"

"Ex-boyfriend James? Yep, that'd be the one."

"Why is he with Kendall?"

"Oh, I didn't ask." Camille said, putting a bottle of vanilla extract in her cart. "But I didn't call to talk about some kid. Kendall and I are going to hang out Thursday. You should come."

"I don't know Cami." Jo sighed.

"Don't you Cami me." Camille said sternly.

"But did he invite me?"

"Why does it matter? We were all friends at one point. I don't think he's going to care."

Jo sighed again.

"Alright, I guess I could go for a little bit."

Camille smirked and fist pumped.

"Awesome. See you then!" She said, snapping her phone shut.


End file.
